Zombie Army 4 Couch Co Op
Rebellion has got a pretty great rails tape when it comes to porting its schlocky range of shooters over to Nintendo Switch, with both Zombie Army Trilogy and Sniper Elite 4 the most recent examples of how this developer manages to successfully clasp a whole lot of slo-mo headshots, shambling zombie hordes and branch carnage onto the diminutive console without sacrificing as well much in the manner of functioning or playability.
Zombie Army 4: Dead War is the studio's latest flatulent offering, a game that's been available on other platforms since Feb of 2020, and it's one the team found to be its toughest consignment to date in terms of getting it up and running within the rather restrictive retentivity limitations on Switch. We're not surprised, this is a big old action-packed game after all, and we were a tad concerned at hearing almost the technical struggles in the build-upward to our review period. As it turns out, we needn't have worried at all, equally Rebellion has continued its streak here with another solid port that serves up a smashing large bloody banquet of Nazi zombie-slaying action.
If y'all're a long-term fan of Rebellion'southward work, you'll know exactly what to expect here, with the game'due south tertiary-person shooter activity taking identify beyond a bunch of fairly linear levels that are absolutely stuffed full of enemies to mow down in the manner of your choosing. Yous'll want to keep an eye on your combo-counter at all times, bumping off baddies in quick succession in order to keep your score on the up and ensuring y'all dispatch the dead equally stylishly as possible for all mode of bonuses and multipliers. It's all almost those big fatty combos with this 1. The studio'southward trademark slow motion killcam is also nowadays and right and, should you make a fancy shot from long-range, you'll be treated to a wince-inducing X-ray takedown that does a fine chore of detailing exactly how a Nazi skull explodes when you penetrate it with a speeding bullet.
Zombie Army 4: Expressionless War is exactly every bit bloodthirsty and cluttered every bit we hoped and expected it would be, and its non-stop gunplay is padded out with the same sort of straightforward objectives that have go standard in the series, charging you (and up to three other players in co-op) with defending points on a map confronting waves of enemies, collecting parts to open up doors, or assembling some baroque slice of mechanism as the undead assail from every bending. There'southward definitely nothing surprising in how levels play out here — and Left 4 Dead this certainly ain't — but this is still, for our money, Rebellion'southward slickest zombie effort to engagement and easily one of the very best shooters they've created so far.
Aye, it may be quite simplistic in terms of missions objectives, but it too absolutely nails its gun-feel as well as its B-motion-picture show tone, with vocalisation-acting that lands merely the right side of campy awfulness, a daft story that's as funny as it is throwaway — you'll need to brace yourself for the ludicrous ending here — and some wonderfully atmospheric 1980s Synthwave deployed at exactly the right points every bit yous blast through a never-ending army of Nazi zombies, zombies who've been (re)animated with the kind of attention to detail that makes them a constant please to tear to shreds.
This really is the sort of shooter nosotros just don't go enough of these days, the sort of shooter where bullet-sponge enemies spewing endless XP-related numbers into the air take a back seat to more satisfyingly reactive fare: where aiming and firing at a leg blows it right off and sends your foe straight to the flooring; where setting burn down to a crowd of zombies sees them flail around in absolute agony; and where ane-shot popping undead heads from range looks and feels perfect every single fourth dimension.
Not everything is on point. There's still a persistent level of jank in how your avatar moves around arenas, the game displaying the same mechanical awkwardness found in past Rebellion titles, but in its bodily shooting action, when y'all're engaging with the enemy, popping skulls, fragging crowds and wading into a horde of braindead blackshirts with a twin barrelled MG-42, well, Zombie Ground forces 4 rarely fails to raise a smile. Whether y'all're playing solo or with pals, the shooting here is borderline hypnotic at times and planning your attacks to max out your score on levels or re-running sections in order to perfect your performance gives the 10-hr entrada a ton of in-built replayabilty. It'due south certainly not for everyone, some will cramp at the rough edges and the whole matter is utterly one-time-school and entirely throwaway, merely if you're a fan of this kind of mid-tier shooter action, you'll find a whole lot to beloved with this one.
Calculation to the game's satisfying cadre shooting at that place's also a really dainty balance to how your chosen graphic symbol'due south various special attacks have been worked into proceedings. As you smash der Führer's undead hordes to tiny picayune pieces you'll accuse upwardly a handful of abilities, including a melee assault that lets you lot throw incendiary axes, slash foes with a machete or dial them in the face with an electrical fist, a flashy takedown that sees you regain wellness as y'all finish off an opponent, and a focus assault that slows down time and imbues your bullets with a ton of extra stopping power. Choosing when to deploy these attacks adds a dainty little strategic wrinkle to the game'south activeness and encourages you to experiment equally you find new ways to go along that combo-counter ticking upwards.
Levels too — although pretty much entirely linear and presenting no dandy surprises in terms of layout — have more than enough space to encourage you and your team to spread out and get slightly strategic; to flank, take upwards positions on turret guns and set down mines and tripwires as the armies of the undead spew forth in your direction. There'south as well plenty of creepy little secrets and collectibles for you to hunt down as you explore, and we're particularly enamoured with the game'due south collectible stickers that become displayed in a great large album for your perusal. You'll get your hands on these by pulling off set objectives against various enemy types and 100% completing this drove will take avid zombie slayers a practiced onetime chunk of fourth dimension to see through.
The linearity on display with regards to level layout is smoothed over further by simply how daft and fun the various settings you lot'll be dispatched to are. Always wanted to plough the canals of Venice carmine red with the blood of zombified fascists? Interested in visiting a zoo full of undead surprises or taking a claret-soaked jaunt upwardly the Rotten Declension? Zombie Ground forces 4: Dead War has got you well and truly covered and information technology serves up its action with a good for you dose of terrible puns and wince-inducing one-liners. It'southward right up our street.
In terms of modes, there may be simply the main campaign and a fairly straightforward horde offering to spring into, simply we've found ourselves more than happy with our lot here, blasting through principal missions and so returning to previous areas to hoover upwards collectibles, earn some more stickers or achieve a new PB loftier score. Moreover, we establish that playing through this one solo is merely as much fun equally information technology is to blast through with pals. Where this type of multiplayer-axial affair can very often prove to be a correct dull old plod if you're playing alone, Zombie Ground forces 4's campaign is slick, entertaining and fast-moving enough that solo gunslingers should find they're having a whale of a fourth dimension regardless. In fact, the Zombie Regular army games in general are just fantastically cathartic things to solo your way through, slowly and methodically headshotting throngs of shambling enemies without the stress of keeping up with other players.
Of course, this is a game that'due south been out on other platforms for a good two years now, very much a known quantity, so the real consequence here is whether or not this Switch port is worth your time/coin; as we mentioned at the top, Rebellion has once again done a very impressive job in this regard. Yes, the graphics have been turned correct downwardly to their lowest settings and the frame rate's been chopped in half, but from commencement to finish nosotros barely noticed a unmarried stutter, no matter how many enemies came tearing our way. It as well however looks pretty darn good in places, with the B-movie stylings and splendid soundtrack continuing to provide plenty of atmosphere, regardless of the cuts to fidelity here and in that location. Nosotros did notice the dynamic resolution shifting to continue things moving along in a few areas, just at no signal was the picture quality blurred into oblivion, with everything looking super precipitous for the vast majority of the game's running time. Gute Nachricht!
Nosotros as well briefly tried out co-op across a handful of campaign missions with 1 other histrion and plant that joining or hosting a game was quick and easy, with the operation being rock solid for the virtually office, although we did find a little bit of latency hither and at that place as nosotros rampaged through a full affiliate of the story style. Overall though, given that this is such a relatively recent shooter — and one that flings a fair amount of enemies at you lot at any given fourth dimension — we're honestly hugely impressed by what the developer has managed to achieve with this Switch port. We've played through this one on more than powerful hardware and what you're getting here is the verbal same experience more or less: a slap-up large bloody mess of Nazi-slaying action that looks adept and plays surprisingly smoothly in both docked and handheld modes. There's even gyro support, Hd rumble and enough of sensitivity settings to mess effectually with to sweeten the deal and ensure you're pulling off slo-mo quadruple headshots in no fourth dimension.
Conclusion
Zombie Army 4: Dead War is a surprisingly solid Switch port of one of our favourite Rebellion titles thus far. There'southward a ton of zombie Nazi-slaying sweetness to get stuck into here and, although the graphics have taken a hitting and the frame rate has been halved in comparison to other platforms, what'southward here is eminently playable in both docked and handheld modes. Whether you lot're taking on Hitler's undead hordes lonely or with a few friends in tow, this ane'south a ton of schlocky B-moving-picture show fun that gets a dandy big thumbs up from u.s..
Source: https://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/nintendo-switch/zombie-army-4-dead-war
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